Sunday, February 27, 2011

Week 4 of CED520

This week we looked at copyright law, fair use standards, creative commons, security of personal information, and children's internet safety. The lessons this week really informed me about the details of the copyright laws. I am much more knowledgeable and will now change the way that I obtain and share resources. This week also made me rethink all of the security concerns that can occur from using the internet. Most of all, I was reminded that we need to be able to guide children's internet use so that children remain safe. I have attached the links to the resources that I reviewed this week. Check it out and start making more informed choices. I know that I will now change the way that I interact on the web.


Copyright Law, Fair Use Standards, Creative Commons

Voicethread Copyright Quiz

YouTube Video

Creative Commons Liscening

More on creative commons

Even more on creative commons

An article about the person who created Creative Commons


Security of Personal information

Electronic Privacy Information Center

Ethics Web


Children's Internet Safety

Children’s Internet Protection Act

Internet Safety for Kids

Government Publications

The Wise Kids website

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Week 3 of CED520

This week we worked in groups to evaluate the web 2.0 tools below for their potential use and value in the classroom.

Adobe Buzzword Docs Word Processor
280Slides
Google for Educators
Google Forms
Google Sites
Survey Monkey
Toondoo
Xtranormal
Poll Everywhere
Edmodo

We also compared the usage of Elluminate and Adobe Connect as possible options for online teaching.

You can read more about each tool in my google doc by clicking the link below.

Investigating Internet Tools to Promote Learning

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Week 2 of CED520

This week we discussed Search Engines and Tools for Student Research.

One of the first topics we discussed was how to choose the best search engine using Noodle. Noodle helps you choose the Best Search based on your Information Needs. It is a great tool that helps users find what they are looking for in a more productive and effective manner.

The next topic that we discuss was the proper way to use Search Engines. I read the article about Four (NETS) for Better Searching – by Bernie Dodge. The NETS strategy is based on four concepts. Those four concepts are: start Narrow, find Exact Phrases, Trim back the URL, and look for Similar Pages. The main idea is that users don't take advantage of the full potential of a common search engine such as Google. This was really helpful and I really thought that the strategy about trimming back the URL was quite beneficial.

Another tool that we looked at was Google Alerts. Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic. This is a great way of keeping up to date about any new information on a specific topic.

Another article we read was Wikipedia in the Classroom: Consensus Among Educators?. We were then asked for our opinion about wikipedia as an educational tool. I decided that I would allow students to use it as quick reference or as a starting point. I would not however allow it to be their main or only reference.

I also created a google form that I will be able to have my student utilize to evaluate the reliability of a specific resource. I embedded it below.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

CED 520 - Is blogger the best tool to do our journaling?

This week in class we discussed whether we like using blogger and doing our weekly posts. It was pretty much unanimous that we currently do not like using blogger and we felt like our posts were been forced because of the limited topics (typically what did you learn this week and how can you apply it). We were asked to think of an alternative to using blogger.

A lot of people discussed using facebook because it is something that we are familiar with and it allows us to know when people reply to our posts. I can see this as a viable option for us to collaborate and I like that it would notify us when others respond. This allows us to keep our discussions going and we can further enhance our knowledge. I think that another option would be edmodo It is a website that allows teachers and students to communicate in a safe and private environment. Its user interface is very similar to facebook, which makes it easy for students to use. Teachers and students are able to post questions, view our class assignments (calendar), take quizes, download/view notes, and upload/post assignments.

I think that the biggest complaint was that blogger does not notify users when people comment on a post. I am not sure if there is a way to change the settings of blogger so that it does this but it would be beneficial. Both facebook and edmodo sounds like good options because of their simple user interface and because they will notify you if someone else responds to your post.

I think that blogging itself is bothersome because we are always discussing the same topic; however, I understand the benefits of it as a reflective tool and I know that it will be useful when we do our final portfolio.